The Diary of Dr Valeria Lector
by Valeria Lector
Summary: Follow the steps of Dr. Valeria Lector as she tells the tale of her life dating back to the Black Mesa Incident all the way up to becoming a Resistance leader. Rated T for mild language, mild language, violence, and zombies. Please read and review!
1. Entry 1 Recording Purposes

**Author's Note: **This is an idea I came up with not to long ago. Basically it's about a character based off myself who's named Dr. Valeria Lector. She's writing a journal on her present life as a Resistance leader, and her past life in which she was a scientist who worked in the Lambda Complex of Sector F. The first two chapters will be published together, but from then on it will only be one chapter at a time. Also note that the first chapter is basically only about getting to know Val. This is my first fanfic so go easy on the reviews and no flaming please. Enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Valve or anything else mentioned in this story.

**The Diary of Dr. Valeria Lector**

**Entry 1, Recording Purposes**

Ahh the sweet smell of burning dead flesh…I really do hope you were able to sense the sarcasm there. However I've gotten quite used to it all ever since the Black Mesa Incident. Good ol' Black Mesa. I still remember so many of the people there, some of which survived Black Mesa and the Seven Hour War…and some that didn't. I remember the day it all happened as well, but I'll get to all that sooner or later.

For recording purposes I'll tell a bit about myself. My name is Dr. Valeria Lector, you can call me Val. I grew up in Massachusetts and was what some might refer to as the 'pampered genius'. Being in school was always difficult. I was always known as the 'teacher's pet', but that's probably because of my straight A record. What teacher wouldn't love that? Anyway all up through high school I never really had any friends, but then again I was at least three years younger than most of them. Skipping grades made me feel good inside because I was so proud of myself. However that always made it harder for me to get along with classmates and my two siblings. Home life was always difficult, probably worse than school. I was always either fighting with my parents or my siblings. If it wasn't my siblings being jealous it was my parents upset in my interests. I spent so much time in my room building ingenious contraptions and studying subjects like calculus, physics, and mechanics. My parents were proud me, but wanted me to have more social interaction. Rather annoying to be honest, but that's life for ya. When I graduated high school, it was time for college. That started another argument with my parents. Where would I go to college? Would I stay in a dorm? So many questions led to so many arguments. Eventually my parents decided to send me to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and live in a dorm on campus.

Being away from my family was such a nice relief. No more yelling, no more arguments and no more immature siblings! Actually being in college was even better. The students there were extremely friendly and had no problems starting a two hour conversation on Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Of course there were those spoiled rich brats or the occasional stuck up genius but most people were pretty cool. One person that I was good friends with was Gordon Freeman, who was such a quiet but insanely smart man. He made a good study partner and to be honest I had a little crush on him heehee. But I kept my feelings secret because I was more concerned with my schooling.

Gordon and I graduated at about the same time. Gordon with his thesis paper titled: Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array (whew!) and my thesis paper which I can't seem to recall the name. The only other thing I really remember about graduation was Professor Kliener's face. It was lit up like a Christmas tree; you could just see the sparkles of glee and pride in his eyes.

After that I kind of wondered around looking for a job that would hire someone as young as me in the field I wanted. Eventually I got a job at the local research facility that focused on physics. I was so disappointed there though, the research was incredibly dull and slow. It also made me upset that after all my education, I was using about 1/5 of what I had actually learned. Luckily since I had kept in contact with Professor Kleiner, he recommended me to Dr. Wallace Breen, the administrator at the Black Mesa Research Facility (which is actually located over a decommissioned ICBM launch silo by the way). It was just the chance I had been hoping for. When I finally got the call from the administrator I was relieved after the interview to hear I'd soon have the acceptance letters mailed to me. Bah wish I could write more but I think I hear that familiar sound of a zombie and not just those regular shambling ones either…

-Val

**Author's Final Note: **Hope you enjoyed this entry as much as I did writing it. Trust me when I say there are a lot more to come, for now though I need all the help and feeback I can get. So...please review!


	2. Entry 2 Black Mesa

**Author's Note: **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my story. Chapter 2 goes into what it was like to work at Black Mesa and introduces some of the main characters from the Half Life series.

**Entry 2, Black Mesa**

Whew! Last night sure was an epic adrenaline pumping event. The other Resistance members and I sure had a heck of a time taking turns putting multiple holes into the zombies. Was pretty fun until a pack of those damn spider zombies arrived. Last thing I remember was hearing that dreaded howl, and then a sharp blow to the back of my head. I woke up on a mat back at Station Twelve with the worst headache I had ever experienced and a few cuts. Wasn't the pain that got to me but the embarrassment. I am supposed to be a Resistance leader who sets examples for others to follow by. Last night I was incredibly immature and let my guard down. At least no one was killed or seriously hurt. I can only imagine if it were a group of Combine Soldiers that had found us instead…probably would have been the end of Station Twelve. I can only hope the other Resistance leaders don't hear of this. Well no use beating myself up about what happened or what could have happened. Lesson well learned.

Fortunately one good came of last night, all day bed rest yay! This means I have the whole day to write in my journal instead of being stuck on watch outside. I find it rather curious that while I'm an 'egghead' and a Resistance leader, I've yet to be transferred to an area of safety. Shouldn't I be in a lab somewhere conducting experiments and inventing devices to help aid the Resistance? I know Kliener has been wanting me to help him with the teleport chamber he's been working on, but Eli insists that I remain at Station Twelve for the time being. I guess I'll just have to ask him for more detail later.

What to write about, what to write about… Oh I know, I can continue my story about my past from yesterday. So once I got my acceptance letters, I practically jumped for joy and called Kleiner right away. I could hear the joy is his voice and I felt proud. To me Kleiner was like my dad when my own wasn't there to congratulate me; I really admired him. After reviewing the letters more in depth, I discovered I was to begin work immediately in Sector F, Lambda Complex. So after packing my bags and grabbing a plane to New Mexico, I moved into one of the dormitories topside of Black Mesa.

The first few months were pretty interesting. Now that I was actually working at Black Mesa, I was able to meet up with Kleiner for lunch. We would always end up talking for hours past our lunch break about Xen, the border world. As most people do we had different views on teleportation, but we both agreed that Xen would have to be used as slingshot in order to attempt teleportation (at least for the time being).

My favorite part of working in Sector F was having Hazard Team members come back from Xen with specimens. Of course the higher ups always got to choose the name for each different alien race, but that still didn't stop me from giving them a personal name. I often enjoyed visiting the Biodome Complex in Sector E to view all the aliens. I remember one specific Bull Squid that I had named Spot. He was the only Bull Squid I had ever seen with only one spot, and he was a great listener even though he was behind almost five inches of glass. One topic I always found interesting to think about while I was working is how I always doubted aliens existed. Being up close and personal with beings from another world really opened my mind to different views and aspects.

Other then scientific purposes, there was of course the lack of other females at Black Mesa. There were only two female scientists that I had heard of but never met. Their names were Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green; both were stationed at Sector C in the Anomalous Materials Laboratories. Other than those two, I heard no other stories of female scientists. This made it incredibly hard for the males I worked with to restrain themselves from flirting with me. Luckily female security guards would be stationed in Sector F sometimes and they enjoyed the attention. This at least allowed me a day to work undisturbed.

I do remember one particular scientist named Dr. Arne Magnusson though. He was extremely egotistical and respected no one except the administrator and unfortunately me. There were two main things that bugged me about him. One was the constant need to compliment me, flirt with me, and bug me to go out to lunch with him. He always threw a fit when I said I'd be meeting with Dr. Kleiner for lunch instead. That was probably because he was either jealous (even though Kleiner was nothing more than a friend), or because he was competing against him for grant money. The second thing that I REALLY hated about Magnusson was that he always wanted me to view his inventions and the layouts for them. I made the hugest mistake when I said yes one day. After viewing a few layouts for his Magnus Pulse Energy Compactor, I told him it might beat Kliener's upcoming inventions. I think his chest might have exploded if it would have swelled a few more inches with pride. He then went on for about an hour going into detail about his contraption. Later I even heard he renamed it to the Val Pulse Energy Compactor. This may sound evil to say but he's one of those people I really hope didn't live past the Seven Hour War.

My oh my I sure have written a lot today! I suppose I can continue about Black Mesa tomorrow, but for now I need some rest. My head still aches a bit and I'm tired anyway.

-Val


	3. Entry 3 Zombies and Headcrabs

**Author's Note: **Thank you for those that reviewed my last two entries! ^_^ I've decided to release Entry 3 a bit earlier then I had planned originally, just because I felt like it. As the title explains, this entry is about zombies and headcrabs. Enjoy!

**Entry 3, Zombies and Headcrabs**

I was running down the hall; 9mm pistol in one hand and a med kit in the other. I barely reached the wounded security officer when the above vent gave way crushing the man underneath. From above, in the part of the vent still intact I could barely see the lurking shadow of a headcrab. Cautiously I grabbed a grenade from my belt, pulled the pin and flung it up into the vent shaft. After the explosion I moved a little closer to see if I could scavenge the officer's body for ammo. That's when I realized I had made a deadly mistake. The front of the vent was secure but the back was not. However it was too late. I heard the familiar shrill shriek and then complete darkness as I lost complete control of my nervous system to the parasite…

I awoke in a cold sweat last night; not sure what time since we really don't have clocks. I remember sighing with relief as it was just a bad dream. Being turned into a zombie is probably the worst thing that could ever happen to someone. I remember studying headcrabs back in Black Mesa. We didn't know much about them until during the Black Mesa Incident, but some things were obvious. You see a headcrabs nature is to wait and lurk in dark areas for unsuspecting prey. After finding a suitable host they let out a shrill scream as they jump upon the preys head. They then attach themselves by digging their claws into parts of the head while they use their mouth to tear apart the flesh surrounding the skull. By using parts of its own body to interfere with the host's motor cortex of the brain, the headcrab is then able to control almost all parts of the body. The worst part is that the person/creature zombified actually stays alive while the headcrab eats parts of flesh from either the head or back depending on the crab.

There are three different zombies based on the three different headcrabs; regular, spider, and hissing. A regular headcrab obviously turns a host into ordinary shambling zombie. A spider headcrab turns a host into a spider zombie. Spider zombies are quite interesting. They are extremely agile and can even climb up walls. It's these guys you want to look out for in the field. I remember someone once telling me that the reason they have no flesh is because they tear it off so they can run and jump faster. Lastly there are the hissing headcrabs that turn a host into a bloat load zombie. At least I'm original unlike the other 'egg heads'. Anyway bloat load zombies after being zombified become bloated because of the hissing headcrabs venom. After that, other hissing headcrabs attach themselves to the host's back and eat the flesh off that area to survive. A bloat load zombie can carry about four hissing headcrabs. These are probably the most deadly of the three zombie types, but luckily they aren't encountered much and they are pretty slow as well. There was a rumor I heard that there might be a Combine zombie but I think it's just a mere story told to frighten people.

So here I am once again spending my time patrolling outside Station Twelve. So boring but at least I have you to keep me company. Bah I'm so bored! I wish one of the other Resistance leaders were here so I could have someone intellectual to talk to. I mean don't get me wrong, the Resistance members at Station Twelve are all fine and dandy. Thing is all they seem to want to do is talk about how all hope is lost or about their weapons. There's no one really here to chat with about different teleportation methods or even the habits of a Houndeye alien. It can be very frustrating but sometimes if I'm lucky I get Dr. Vance's daughter to stop by. She's a really cool person to talk to about hacking and different areas around City 17. Well it's almost night time and I'll be off to grab a few hours of sleep soon. Not enough time to talk about Black Mesa but I can scribble down a few notes about Station Twelve.

Station Twelve is a nice place as long as you're ok with the smell of human waste and bugs….lots of bugs. Combine are always patrolling around us, so I often wonder how it is that they are able to miss one of the busiest safe houses in City 17. This is the main reason I must be careful while stationed here. It's a pretty good place all in all though as long as you're attentive and quiet. We have furniture, a radio to contact the other stations and plenty of headcrabs to eat. Headcrabs can be pretty good as long as they are cooked. However you NEVER want to eat the legs; very tough and they taste awful. It's the backside and belly you'll want to carve up. Anyway, most of the people that arrive here don't stay long. Most of them head off through the Underground Railroad to try to get to Black Mesa East.

Black Mesa East is probably the biggest safe house known to all the citizens. Dr. Vance, his daughter, and Dr. Mossman reside there along with a huge number of escapees and Vortigaunts. This is the place I wish so badly I could be transferred to. I hear that the Vortigaunts there make a great headcrab dish unlike the fools here who burn the crabs. They actually conduct teleportation experiments there as well. How I envy them! The trip to get there is quite long on foot and just as dangerous though. It really amazes me when I hear of stories of citizens that went through obstacles of hazardous waste, Combine, and zombies to get to Black Mesa East. Human survival is always a funny thing. For instance you have a group of citizens attempting to escape City 17. One of them dies and therefore the whole group grows stronger because of it. Besides that is one less person with a weapon. Well I've defiantly veered off topic, but at least my shift is up. Hopefully tonight I will have a nice dream, maybe something like meeting up with Gordon again or being transferred to Black Mesa East.

-Val


	4. Entry 4 the Black Mesa Incident Part 1

**Author's Note: **I present Entry 4, which has been split up into three different parts. I did this for a few reasons. First reason is that the subject of the incident was just too large to try and cram into one entry, besides I do try to keep my entries realistic size wise (1 - 3 pages). Part 1 will deal with the events leading up to the incident; Part 2 & 3 (which will be published farther along in the story) will deal with the actual incident. This is the smallest entry I've written so far, but I hope you still enjoy and review it!!!

**Entry 4, the Black Mesa Incident Part 1**

So I've been hearing rumors about Gordon Freeman. While some say he probably perished at Black Mesa or was killed by the Combine, others disagree and say that one day he will return. I personally think he will return. I mean this guy literally went through Hell to close the inter-dimensional rift between Earth and Xen. He's going to be hard to kill. Anyway I promised myself I'd get the guts to finally write about the Black Mesa Incident so might as well start now before I chicken out. I'll start with the events leading up to the incident.

So about a few months before the incident the administrator announced that research in Sector C (Anomalous Materials Lab) would be the main focus of Black Mesa. This of course made some people suspicious. I remember speaking to a few of the research associates in Sector C. Most were indeed happy that research had gone up because like me they had a huge thirst for knowledge. However, others were upset they weren't being told the real reasons of what was actually going on. During these times, I often debated with other scientists and research associates of all areas of Black Mesa. The big question was what the researchers in Sector C would do to achieve more success with the crystal samples brought from Xen. The crystals had incredible abilities but the devices that were currently being used (like the Anti-mass Spectrometer) did not possess the power to scan the samples more in-depth. So basically the scientists were thinking of raising the scanners on the Anti-mass Spectrometer to a more 'efficient' level. However this had never ever happened because the chances of a Resonance Cascade occurring would be very high. Back at Sector F, fewer and fewer Hazard Team members had been returning from Xen. Most of the time we were lucky to receive a small crystal sample, but the chances of a live specimen being brought back had become almost little to none. This meant that the alien races on Xen weren't putting up with strangers in their home anymore; they were fighting back.

On May 5 200X (sorry can't recall the year), Dr Kleiner got back in touch with Gordon Freeman and recommended him to the administrator of Black Mesa. Dr. Breen was impressed and offered Gordon a job in the Anomalous Materials Laboratories of Sector C. Of course he accepted and I was thrilled when I heard he got his acceptance letters. I remember meeting up with him in Level 3 as he was newly moving into his personal Dorm numbered 309. He was still as quiet as ever but there was one thing he just couldn't stop talking about; his previous job. He had become extremely upset with how slow the research had been going in the academy he worked at. It was such a coincidence that Kleiner had still kept Gordon's number and just decided one day to call and catch up. It seemed almost too perfect for Gordon especially since the research in the Anomalous Materials had just increased fivefold. I often wonder if it was all planned by a higher force…

Sometime around the middle of May, the senior staff and administrator decided to change the crystal sample EP-0021 to the GG-3883 crystal sample for the next Anti-mass Spectrometer analysis. This is when people got extremely curious, including me. Gordon was just as clueless as I but he did tell me that it was the largest and purest sample collected so far. He also told me that many of the scientists in Sector C had complained to the administrator stating that pushing the Anti Spectrometer scanning levels AND using a sample as pure as GG-3883 would be far too dangerous. The days leading up to May 16 consisted of many people quitting their jobs and other people being laid off.

A few days later in the early morning of May 16th (day of experiment in Sector C), a system wide computer crash occurred. When this happened the only thing I kept doing was thanking myself for taking a few computer classes in college. Every man and his dog in Black Mesa were calling up the technicians all throughout the morning. Even after the computer technicians were able to bring back the computer network, they still had problems to fix like the security system. Other problems like the electronic doors caused the maintenance workers to have a turn receiving calls from desperate scientists. That morning was so crazy but the worst had yet to happen.

Hmm, that's different. A Resistance member just handed me a letter from one of the other leaders. This might be important, so I'll continue about Black Mesa a bit later.

-Val

**Author's Final Note:** Hope that you've enjoyed the story so far! Please feel free to when and if you review to give any tips, ideas, spell checks, etc. Any help I can get I would greatly appreciate, thank you! ^_^


	5. Entry 5 the Transfer

**Author's Note: **There's gonna be longer delays between chapters now (don't blame meeeee blame real life!). Anyway as the title says, it's time for Valeria to finally be transferred yaaaay. So I present to you Entry 5, enjoy! ^_^

**Entry 5, the Transfer**

The first thing I felt upon receiving the letter was sheer terror. My previous actions involving the spider zombies led me to believe I was about to read a two page letter on being more mature. You can believe my surprise when instead of being scolded, I was being transferred. After reading the letter three times, pinching myself, and asking others to pinch me, I discovered this indeed was not a dream. Shortly after this discovery, I did a dance of victory causing the nearest Resistance members to most likely think I was drunk. The letter was pretty short but I'll rewrite it in here since I'll be burning it shortly.

_To: Val _

_From: Izzy_

_It has been quite some time since we have last spoken Val. I do hope that you and your friends are in good health and spirit. Lately I have heard of your accomplishments and have been relaying them to Eli. He seems impressed enough to wish to have you come help me with the certain tasks around my apartment. So if you could pack up your possessions at once and escort yourself to my immediate area, you can begin your work. If you desire to have some of your friends accompany you on your short trip, then feel free. I would love to converse with those that have lived with you throughout the past year. Well then, I can hardly wait to meet back up with you and to catch up on certain subjects._

_Wishing all goes well, Izzy._

While this letter may seem nothing more than a friendly hello and come help me with some chores, it's actually a carefully planned out code. While it is rather effortless to see through it, we know that the Combine lack these simple principles. What I got out of this letter from Kleiner, is that he talked with Eli and finally convinced him to have me transferred to his secret lab to help him work on certain experiments. Also, I need to hurry as fast as I can and take some friends (Resistance members) along with me for protection reasons, not that I need it. I think I will still bring a few Resistance members along with me, at least until we get out of the canals.

So I'm all packed now, and as you can probably guess beyond excited. I will finally be able to put my mind to use and build all sorts of useful things for the Resistance. On top of that, I'll be able to sleep on more than just a dirty mat shared by insects, I'll be fed much better, and for the first time in months (since I haven't had any visits from Alyx) I'll have someone intellectual to speak with. I am feeling rather empty now though. Perhaps it's because of the people I've grown attached to at Station Twelve. I know I'm going to miss a great deal of them, but I know I'll always remember the good times I've shared with them. Even if good times usually consisted of either ambushing Combine Patrol units or pumping lead into zombies, we always managed to laugh about it all later.

The only other emotion I'm feeling based off leaving Station Twelve is sympathy. I feel that while I'll be off in experimentation land, the Resistance members here will still be fearing for their lives as the CP units are stationed above. For me it's always been that I don't realize how bad something is until I think about it. Otherwise I just push it aside and deal with the here and now. I really do hope that things will get better at Station Twelve, and that they will be able to stay organized even If I'm not there…

Well it would seem that the Resistance members I chose to accompany me are ready to depart now. I pray that it doesn't take too long to arrive at Kleiner's secret lab, and that we don't run into any CP units.

-Val

**Author's Final Note: **As a final note I would like to introduce my beta reader, Simpless! :D I'm not sure if she's a beta reader on this site, but that doesn't matter to me. She proof reads my papers very well and she's already a good friend so there. :P Also to answer your question X6, I deduced most of that information from the many times of playing all the Half Life games. Other info I got from google + Half Life wiki. Hope that answered your question! ^_^


	6. Entry 6 To the Lab!

**Author's Note: **Alright so here's Entry 6. I had fun writing this one, but writing in journal format can be kind of hard detail wise. I still hope that all of my readers enjoy this story anyway! Read and review pleeeeeaaaase. :D

**Entry 6, To the Lab!**

The trip to Kleiner's laboratory really isn't all that long. It is however very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. I've known this by heart for almost a year now, and I knew when I started off on my little trip I'd have to choose capable Resistance members to accompany me on the way. At Station Twelve there aren't a whole bunch of people that fall into that category, no offense to them. In the end I chose my two closest and able friends that went by the names Steve and Mary. Steve is second in command and an excellent field man, while Mary is a medic and mostly stays at Station Twelve to help those in need. The two absolutely hate each other, but pretend they don't in my presence.

We set off on our journey around the middle of the night. There are pros and cons of leaving at night just like there is any other time of the day. For one, the Combine don't patrol as much at night, and if they do it's rarely in our area. On the other hand, more zombies come out during the night and Barnacles are harder to spot. Bah Barnacles…probably the most annoying creatures that inhabit the dark and damp areas of City 17. Maybe some other time I'll take the time to explain them in more detail, but not now.

Anyways, right after we left, we hit the mini 'Barnacle field' that lies about 12 feet away from Station Twelve. Now Steve and I can see pretty well in the dark, and the constant patrolling has caused at least me to memorize exactly where each Barnacle is. However Mary seemed to lack both these abilities. Shortly after about a minute of entering the area the Barnacles inhabit, Mary had somehow managed to have herself caught by one. Surprisingly enough, it was Steve who rushed to her rescue by attempting to pull her down. This of course led to no victory, so he ended up pulling his .357 Magnum out and shooting the damned thing. It all happened so fast and I'm glad Steve acted when he did. I also think that may have caused a bonding moment for the two but who knows.

After Mary fell from the height she did (landing on Steve in the process), she ended up twisting her ankle. Steve knew almost little to nothing about anything involving medical subjects, so I ended up wrapping her ankle. Luckily since we had not gotten too far from Station Twelve, we were able to walk her back and continue on our trip. After clearing the Barnacles, we came to an area I like to call the box car pileup. The best way to describe what this area looks like is well, like a bunch of train cars crashed up on each other. Anyway Steve and I took turns helping each other lift ourselves up onto the box cars, until we finally reached the box car in which Joe lived and kept look out in. Joe is a pretty cool Resistance member who lives with a Vortigaunt by a name I can't seem to recall. After talking for a bit, Joe helped hoist us up so that we could continue on.

Getting through the next areas was pretty easy. Once we got to the train freight yard, all we had to do was simply stack wooden crates to reach a ledge that would guide me directly on a path to Kleiner's secret lab. Upon completing this task, I bid a farewell to Steve and wished him well on his journey back. Traveling with Steve was pleasant, but I was glad to finally be alone to take in the night air and be able to actually hear myself think; Steve can really talk your ear off if you don't tell him to hush. It didn't take long to arrive at Kleiner's after that, and it made it even better that Alyx was waiting for me. We exchanged greetings and then went inside through the secret entrance which I will NOT reveal!

Meeting up with Kleiner this time was quite different. The last time I saw him was only about a month ago, but I think it was the fact that I would actually be staying there that made it a much more joyful reunion. Shortly upon arriving, Alyx took off to parts unknown while Kleiner went away to the other room to make some tea. This gave me a chance to get familiar with his lab once again.

The first thing I noticed was that many new contraptions had been constructed. The main invention that attracted me was what looked to be a miniature teleporter. Of course my curiosity got me and I had to try it. My efforts to attempt to use the device were cut short as Kleiner came back with two cups of tea. When Kleiner saw me standing next to the mechanism, I think he forgot he was holding the cups because he nearly dropped them as he rushed over to me. The look on his face told me I was in for a long conversation on what the device did. However I was excited because this was exactly like what we were working on in Sector F of Black Mesa.

After about an hour of talking about what I guessed to be right (a mini-teleporter) and testing its abilities, we decided to hit the sack and begin work the next day. You can probably believe my shock when I was led to a medium sized room with four mattresses…above the ground. I think I either squealed or squeaked as I jumped onto one of the mattresses which to my surprise already had someone, well something sleeping on it.

As I lifted up the blankets I saw the familiar shape of Lamarr, Dr. Kleiner's de-beaked pet headcrab, and immediately reached under to grab her out. After I got Lamarr out I gave her, or tried to give her, a huge hug. I absolutely adore Lamarr or as Kleiner likes to call her, Hedy. I still have no idea how Kleiner was able to capture, let alone de-beak her but oh well she's one hundred percent safe to be around. Sometimes she will try to attach herself onto my head (like every headcrab would), but I really dislike when she does that since she kind of slobbers on my hair. Seeing as how Kleiner has little to no hair I can see why he doesn't mind it.

Shortly after the discovery of Lamarr, Kleiner went off to fetch her some food (which consists of watermelons). Even though it's only been thirty minutes, I think I'll go check on him to make sure everything is O.K. or to see if I can help in any way.

– Val


	7. Entry 7 Work, Work, Work

**Author's Note: **So then, on to Entry 7. This entry mostly just shows what it's like to work in the lab with Kleiner, Lamarr, and the occasional visits from Alyx. Read, enjoy, and review! ^_^

**Entry 7, Work, Work, Work**

Wow it's been awhile since I've written anything, but I do have my reasons. Lately Kliener and I have been working on new methods for teleportation. I've been so excited lately I can barely sleep; however working all day and night tends to knock you out after awhile. Teleportation isn't the only thing we've been working on either. I personally have been trying to build a replication of Dr. Magnusson's pulse energy compactor. Being able to compact pulse energy would defiantly save time and energy outputs. Another device I've been working on is a pulse energy converter. I don't have the right parts to build it yet, but when I do it will be able to aid Dr. Kliener in ways many thought unimaginable.

Dr. Kliener lately has been worrying about Lamarr (he does that way too often in my opinion). He usually has three different theories as to what may be wrong with her. The first is that she's depressed and misses meat, in other words someone's skull. The second is that she's ill and needs more food or interaction. The third theory is that she needs a male companion. Now I'm not sure if headcrabs can mate or not, but I'm pretty sure the third theory just means Kliener wants more headcrabs around the lab. One headcrab is more than enough for me. I can't imagine waking up to find 5 headcrabs in my bed snuggling, or trying to work in the lab with all the shrieks and squeaks.

Besides that the past week has been rather uneventful. Alyx did come to visit…or was that the week before the last? Oh well. I lose track of time so quickly, I don't even think I can remember the current year. That's something I find interesting about myself. I can remember useless things like exactly how many crows I've seen in the last ten years, but I can never remember important things like how old I am or what year it actually is. Sometimes I become severely depressed about it. What if I were to forget my name? I don't know if that could ever happen but it is bad enough I don't know how old I am…

Bah I veered off the subject I was previously talking about. I think it was about Alyx, ah yes it was. Anyway, whenever Alyx visits she brings what you could call souvenirs from the abandoned places of City 17. Children's toys, very old newspapers, mechanical parts, Combine armor, guns, ammo, food, and sometimes very odd devices is what is typically brought in. Last week (or the week before), she brought in a can of expired tuna, and a newspaper article that was at least ten to twenty years old. It always amazes me at the simple things people would find to complain or write about in newspapers. I can remember one article quite clearly from that newspaper about a woman who had her dog kidnapped by her husband. Why he did this I'll never know because the paper didn't say, though it was probably for money.

Oh no Kliener is screaming in his lab, wonder what happened now. I'll have to end today's entry a bit early unfortunately.

– Val

P.S By the way the expired tuna was delicious.

**Author's Final Note: **Don't worry, next entry you'll find out why Kleiner was screaming. Entry 8 is also one of my favorite written entries; I'm really looking forward to any reviews I get from that one lol.


	8. Entry 8 Gene Markey the Headcrab

**Author's Note: **Ahh this is one of my favorite entries I have written so far. None of it actually happens in any of the games, but that's why it's a fanfic. By the way themagnusson, Barney will show up in entry 9 (another good entry in my opinion). Anyway as I always say, read, enjoy, and review! :D

**Entry 8, Gene Markey the Headcrab**

When a person screams, it's only natural to run to their aid. When Dr. Kleiner screams, it's a bit more like give me five minutes to finish this book. Kliener has always had this bad habit of over reacting to things that frighten him, so last night I figured it would probably be the same. I can say I was defiantly wrong and I'm glad that I didn't take five minutes to finish my book, well journal in this case.

When I left the sleeping area and entered the lab, the first thing I saw was Kleiner cowering up in the little nook where he kept his storage. The second thing I saw was a headcrab shrieking and jumping at the frightened Kliener. My initial thought was that Lamarr had finally snapped and was attempting to attack Kliener even without her teeth. However that theory was pushed aside when I saw Kliener clutching Lamarr for dear life (if she had eyes they would have probably popped out of her skull erm body). Kliener eventually noticed me and yelled for me to trap the headcrab. Now I'm not sure how many people would react to this but my jaw literally dropped. I mean if he had yelled to me and told me to kill it then that it would have been a different story and I would have done so. However after seeing what headcrabs can and have done to people, I wasn't about to take the same risk. I did what anyone would do in my situation and killed it…or so I thought.

As I looked frantically around searching for Kleiner's shotgun, I realized that it wasn't hung up in the correct area. This surprised me since it was Kleiner's favorite souvenir from Black Mesa, his lab coat being second. Anyway, seeing as how I couldn't locate the shotgun I chose the first capable weapon I saw, a book. After smacking the thing with the book about fifteen times (thank you Shakespeare), Kliener shouted at me to stop. I really didn't want to since I was upset that this headcrab had tried to kill my mentor and friend, but once I took once glance at Kliener's face I knew I had to. Sometimes in life a person can look at another and know exactly how they are feeling or what they are thinking. This moment was one of those. Sympathy, sorrow, and rage filled Kliener's eyes and I could feel nothing but regret.

I tired apologizing but Kliener kept stopping me half way through. I didn't know what to do. I mean what would anyone have done if they were in my position? Kliener cleaned up the mess the best he could and decided he'd use Markey (the dead headcrab whom Kliener had already named) for experiments on headcrab biology. He didn't get far into storing the headcrab when Markey sprung to life and tried to attack Kliener again. This time I was successful at tackling and trapping the headcrab.

The next few hours consisted of Kleiner teaching me how to de-beak and train a headcrab. We also had a very long talk as to how he had got the thing. He told me that Alyx had come in the other day with a dead headcrab, and she figured Kleiner could get some good use out of it for experimentations. Kleiner had put the headcrab away for another time but discovered it had come back to life magically. So he decided to de-beak it so Lamarr could have a male companion. Well when he opened the cage that's where I stepped in and bashed it to 'death'. Looks like this headcrab has nine lives, much like a cat supposedly.

After Markey woke up, Kleiner fed him and introduced him to Lamarr. I expected the worse, but turns out the two actually like each other. Kleiner told me he predicted as much since Gene Markey was once the husband of the actress Hedy Lamarr. Ahh Dr. Kleiner you are a unique one. Well looks like there will be one more headcrab around the lab now; I just hope Kleiner doesn't try to 'adopt' any children.

– Val

**Author's Final Note: **So apparently an anonymous reader posted a comment with a link, and it led to a worst fanfic ever thread. Now I don't want to sound rude but if you find a site like this, keep it to yourself. I understand that not everyone is going to like my story, I understand that my story might not be absolutely perfect, and I understand that everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, I do not appreciate spam that will not improve my writing. Hatred towards my story is not something that can help me, constructive criticism is. For all future reviewers...anything that bashes my story completely down for no other reason than that, will be removed. Also, for now anonymous reviews are disabled, sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused.


	9. Entry 9 the Calhoun and I

**Author's Note: **Thus the Barney entry was made! I have to say that writing this entry was about as fun as writing entry 8. I prefer to stay on the actual Half-Life story line to a degree, but going off topic like with Markey always makes writing more enjoyable. Anyway...read, enjoy, and review!

**Entry 9, the Calhoun and I**

Things around the lab sure have gotten annoying. Initially I thought that having another headcrab around wouldn't be that big of a deal, boy was I wrong. Every morning now I awake to my hair being completely covered in headcrab slobber. Lamarr often cuddled with Kleiner so I seldom got the 'pleasure' of waking up with my head soaked. Markey it would seem has taken a liking to me and any chance he gets (I do mean any chance), he tries to attach himself to my head. Kliener thinks it's adorable but I would love to mock him one day about his lack of hair. Also now that there are two headcrabs wondering around the lab, we have to collect double the amount of watermelons since that is their main diet. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to become like Barney with his 'love' for animals.

Barney Calhoun was and still is a very dear and close friend of mine. He was a security officer at Black Mesa whom I had met through Dr. Kleiner. However his minimum security clearance made it hard for him to meet up with me in Sector F. Luckily I was allowed frequent lunch breaks, which was a privilege not everyone got. This gave me ample opportunity to join up with Calhoun where ever he was and patrol Black Mesa with him. The fact that we were same age (an age I wish I could remember) made it easy for the two of us to start nice long talks about almost anything anyone could think of. Usually though, it was about our past or our jobs. Both our pasts were pretty simple and straight forward. The only real difference was that I grew up a genius and Barney grew up a daredevil. Looking at Barney today, most would never guess he did parachuting, bungee jumping, and motorcycle stunts.

Besides our patrol meetings, sometimes we had the rare chance to get together for lunch. Lunch meetings weren't really all that different but we tried to keep our outgoing conversations to when we were alone or when we were with Kliener. Most scientists at Black Mesa were what you could call stuffed shirts who thought badly about security officers. I can recall too many occasions where a research associate would say something rude about the education level of a 'rent a cop'. When this happened, it usually always ended with me being restricted to my quarters for a few days. Was pretty embarrassing because I felt like a kid that was being grounded to her room, even though all I did was stick up for a security officer.

But anyway, Barney and I got particularly close before the Black Mesa Incident. Not like a relationship but more like brother/sister love. We shared almost everything and we both had nicknames for each other. I usually called him Barns but sometimes it was Dino; I got that name from that popular kid show with the purple dinosaur. Barney however used his unique sense of humor and came up with many nicknames for myself. However I can only recall three. The first is 'Green eyed beauty', which he perceptibly made up because of my eye color. The second and most common is Lauren which he accidentally called me one day because he was thinking of his sister. The last one always makes me laugh and it's Miss Hannibal. Silence of the Lambs was one of my favorite movies back then, and when I finally convinced Barney to watch it he combined Hannibal Lector's name with my own.

Now and days things are a bit different. For one Barney is a Resistance leader but unlike me, he puts his life in danger every day. Barney works undercover as a Combine and has been doing so for quite awhile now. Luckily the Combine has not caught him yet; it's a great source of information and I don't know what I would do without him. After losing my whole family to the Seven Hour War I don't want to lose Barney, he really is like the brother I never had. Writing these last few sentences has made me become rather emotional so I think I'll continue tomorrow.

– Val

**Author's Final Note: **Alright I hope you enjoyed entry 9! ^^ For this entry's final note, I'm going to answer a few questions that one of my friends recently asked. I figured I would answer them again here for anyone who was curious or shared the same question(s).

Are Gordon or Adrian going to appear in the story? Adrian, no. Gordon, maybe...haven't given it much thought. I'll leave that as a surprise.

I want more Alyx!!! Will you have her appear more pleeeeease? I know that Alyx is on many people's favorite character list, so I'll try my hardest to add her in more. It can be rather difficult to add in interactive situations though when writing in diary/journal form.

What about D0g? Can't make a story without adding in D0g, so yes he will be in eventually.

Everyone has a story about the cat, is it going to be in yours? Of course, cats rock...especially that one that haunts Barney.

Is your real name actually Valeria Lector? Nope, someone stole my nickname so I used my characters name. :P

Now to answer your question One Schim, yes I'm going to be writing more about Black Mesa. In fact the next few entries will be about the Black Mesa Incident, how Val escaped, etc. I will most likely be writing in more flashbacks involving Black Mesa, but for the most part the timeline will follow the Resistance.

If anyone else has any other questions, feel free to ask! ^_^


	10. Entry 10 the Black Mesa Incident Part 2

**Author's Note: **Alrighty Entry 10 uploaded! The next few entries will deal with the Black Mesa Incident and how Valeria escaped. Even later (maybe when I get into the 20's), entries involving the 7 hour war will be introduced. Anyway...read, enjoy, and review!^.^

**Entry 10, the Black Mesa Incident Part 2**

So it occurred to me the other day that I never finished writing about the Black Mesa Incident. I'm not sure I even want to though because it brings back too many emotional events. However, lately all my nightmares are about Black Mesa so I figure this might be good therapy, to just get it all out I suppose.

After the whole system wide computer crash event, I figured I'd go blow off some steam by taking a trip to the Biodome Complex in Sector E. As always when I visited the Bio Complex, I usually headed over to bullsquid containment area to talk with Spot. I had not gotten far when a few of the glass windows next to me literally exploded, sending pieces of the debris straight into my left arm. My first reaction was to shout a few curse words in agony, as I delicately tired to pull each piece out. After that, I wasn't exactly sure what was happening.

The aliens that were contained began teleporting from every which direction. Some of which stayed with what looked like faces of confusion, while others were forcibly (or willingly, who knows) teleported off to different locations. The structure of the room I was in at the time was falling apart rapidly. Concrete beams and hanging lights were breaking apart from the ceiling and crashing down only to land on top of frightened scientists. More glass windows burst into a million pieces as electronic devices around me exploded with a deafening blast. I did the best I could to dodge the falling beams while at the same time trying to think on my feet. I knew I had to get out of Sector E, that much was certain. However when something tragic, insane, or life threatening happens, people panic. My mind just kept racing back and forth with thoughts of an alien invasion and the safety of all my friends. At the time, an alien invasion fit what was happening. We kidnapped beings from their realm, so it made sense that they were coming to rescue them and eliminate us. Who would have thought it was actually a resonance cascade?

Anyway, more aliens began to teleport in as I crawled away quietly, being careful not to alert them to my presence. Most of the other scientists had already been killed in the first wave of destruction, but the others were foolishly running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I couldn't blame them for doing so, but I tried to remain calm. A few Vortigaunts then teleported in and quickly killed the remaining scientists with neon green energy blasts, sending tiny splats of warm blood across my face. If anyone has ever seen someone die in their lifetime then they would know how I had felt at that exact moment. It was horrifying to see a fellow scientist killed so violently and not be able to do a thing to help. The only thing I could do was force myself to creep away like a coward.

After much luck I successfully snuck my way out of the Bio Dome and into the main halls of Sector E. Surprisingly they were empty, but that just made it all the more frightening; who knows when a random wave of aliens could teleport in? As I cautiously made my way to the transit system many more thoughts crossed my mind. What if the transit system was down, what would I do then? Was Sector E the only area being invaded? If not, how was I going to survive? Unlike now, I knew little to nothing when it came to weapons and battle tactics back then. I was pretty much scared out of my mind, and today when I think about it, the only thing that kept me going was survival. Such a funny thing survival…

But anyway, when I finally arrived at the transit system hub I was fortunate enough to discover that it was indeed still functional; though for how long was not an answer I was given. When I glanced inside the monorail car, I noticed that there had obviously been a small battle that had taken place within the car. 9mm shells lay scattered across the floor along with the actual pistol which lay a few inches away from an officer's hand. Small puddles of fresh blood also covered the floor, and a bloody handprint had been smeared across the back wall. Upon checking the pulses of the two scientists and security officer I deduced that all three were dead. I then tried my best to lift the armor off the security officer but leapt back with shock and horror after I had accidently flipped him onto his backside. A gapping cauterized wound (most likely from a Vortigaunt) had left bits of semi burnt intestine and other unrecognizable organs to leak out of the man's stomach. That's when the vomit came. I knew it was to be good to be true when I had finally gotten the peach flavored oatmeal from the cafeteria earlier that day. This memory is one I usually wake up screaming to, and I'm not sure why it has stuck with me through all these years.

After I had nearly heaved my brains out, I returned to the officer's body. I couldn't help feel a sense of mourning and disgust as I bent down to obtain the deceased officer's armor (what was left of it), pistol, and weapon holster. As dazed as I was by all that had just happened in the last few minutes, I decided I would have to toughen up if I was to make it. After taking a quick look at the schedule for the monorail I was in, I discovered just how lucky I actually was. The monorail car's next destination was to stop right outside Sector F, exactly the place I was hoping to head to. About a couple of minutes later the car's electronic door shut about half way and then began to move slowly off to its intended location. I knew it would be a little bit before I arrived at Sector F so I took the time I had to take in the scenery if that's what you could call it.

As I turned each corner a new horror laid waiting for me, and my question of whether the whole base was being invaded was quickly answered. The once beautiful structure of Black Mesa had been diminished to mostly rubble and malfunctioning electronic devices. The damaged com system made the atmosphere even more eerie as the voice(s) randomly shut off and changed sound. Frantic scientists ran cowering in fear from the invading Xen aliens, as security officers did their best to fight them off with their measly 9mm handguns.

Eventually I made it to Sector F and luckily I got off the tram right before the beam split, sending the car crashing into the chasm below. As I dashed up to the two gigantic metal doors that led to the Lambda Complex, I entered my security code, used the retinal scanner, and swiped my ID card. The two doors slowly creaked open and as I walked through, I realized I was in for one Hell of a fight…

- Val


	11. Entry 11 the Black Mesa Incident Part 3

**Author's Note: **Like Entry 10, Entry 11 will have a more detailed approach. Writing about Val's past can be sometimes hard in diary form...but I think what I've been doing so far is good. Entry 12 I think many of you will like, but I'm not saying a word. As a final note, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read through or review my story. Thank you! ^^

**Entry 11, the Black Mesa Incident Part 3**

Sorry for ending last night's entry so abruptly. Barney dropped by for visit to have a quick chat with Kliener and I. It was going fine until Markey landed perfectly onto Barney's skull and began to slobber profusely. Barney absolutely hates headcrabs, in fact I can't think of anything else he hates more. He even has a nickname for them, 'head humpers'. Anyways, I don't think I have to go into detail about how upset he was to discover that the lab now had an extra headcrab roaming around, one that was head happy as well. Dr. Kleiner tried to explain that Markey just needed to be disciplined better but Barney just stormed out. I'm sure he will come back soon.

Anyway, where did I leave off yesterday…ah yes entering the Lambda Complex. When the doors opened to the complex, a huge wave of anger and grief swept over me like a tidal wave. A large number of the scientists and research associates that I had worked closely with had been murdered. Even if I didn't like all of them, no one deserved a death like that, no one. Many of the doors and passageways that led to the main teleportation chamber had been blocked by bits of wreckage or had just caved in all together. This made it hard for me to chart where I would try to head to in order to arrive at the main teleporter. However in the end I chose hallway A-63, a path that would lead me directly to Level A of the Lambda Complex.

Upon venturing down the passage I ran into a friend, or so I had thought at the time. Spot was facing in the other direction, his tail swaying almost like it was in harmony. Taking a few steps closer I realized that he was feasting on the corpse of David Williams; a friend of mine who was a highly trained and considerate security guard. Seeing this caused me to be overcome with rage but I wasn't sure what to do. A good friend of mine was being devoured by another friend, even if that friend was a bullsquid.

I quickly made up my mind that I would have to end up using a weapon for the first time. I aimed the pistol steadily at Spot and fired. Spot leapt into the air a few feet as if though he had been frightened. He turned around slowly giving me a look of confusion and shock. I'm not sure if he remembered who I was or not, but none the less his animal instinct eventually took over. Our fight began like a demented dance. Spot quickly shot out bile colored acid from his mouth as I desperately tried to dodge the material. At the same time I was trying my best to shoot Spot, but unfortunately I wasn't very good at aiming back then. After what seemed like an hour, Spot finally fell to the ground with a whining sound.

Shortly after our fight I fell to the ground as well, weeping. Not only because of the pain but because of everything that had happened. I tried my best to lift the melted armor off, but I was too weak from the other acidic wounds I had obtained. My skin felt like it was on fire, my armor was completely destroyed, my weapon chamber was empty and I had no spare ammo. I wasn't going to make it. I told myself this over and over before finally I hit the cold ground, hoping that I soon would be able to join Spot and David. Then everything went black…

I'm not sure how long I lay on that hard linoleum, but at some point my rescuer came. I remember waking up to see Dr. Kliener wrapping my wounds, and then glancing over to see a few other scientists. Even though I was still out of it, I did my best to take in what Kleiner had been telling me. He started off by telling me how he made it out of Sector C and arrived at Sector F. He, like myself, figured he would be able to use the main teleport chamber in Level A to forever escape the facility. Once he had made it into the Lambda Complex he found me and thought I was dead. He then went on to say he saw that I was still breathing and took me back to the area we were currently in at the time, Level A.

Once I had finally fully awoken, Kleiner did his best to explain what had caused everything to happen. A Resonance Cascade had occurred due to the purity and the unstableness of the GG-3883 Xen crystal sample. In other words, an inter-dimensional rift had been formed between Earth and Xen causing beings from both dimensions to exist on both plains. He also went on to say that if someone didn't somehow close the rift soon, then the cascade would spread throughout the rest of our world. Luckily however, Kleiner told me that he heard that some members of the Hazard Team had stayed behind to do two things. The first was to call in the military to help evacuate Black Mesa, and the second was to prepare a rocket that when launched, would close the rift. In my mind both of these plans seemed almost too good to be true, but Kleiner seemed satisfied so we proceeded to head to one of the smaller chambers instead of the main one. I'm still not sure why he was so stubborn on using a different chamber but oh well. I'll have to ask him about it someday.

The short trip to Teleportation Chamber #7-1 was fortunately uneventful alien wise. However zombie wise it was not. My first encounter with the zombies was like it had been with Spot. Some of these men had been my friends, how could I kill them? Kleiner however had no problems using his SPAS-12 shotgun to take off their heads. Now trying to picture someone as clumsy and absent minded as Kliener with a weapon was a thought that would have never crossed my mind until that day. However I quickly reminded myself that Kleiner was indeed on the Survey Team. Therefore he would have to have some sort of knowledge on how to use different weapons, and maybe even some combat tactics. Surprising I know…

Anyway after the zombies had been exterminated by Kleiner, we successfully made it into the chamber. That's when disaster struck. The scientists that had been traveling with us were anxious to escape the facility. Foolishly they rushed into the chamber room only to be attacked by headcrabs. Only one out of the four survived since the fourth headcrab missed the scientist's head. Kleiner rushed in to aid them as he tossed the shotgun to me, hopping that I would have the guts to kill the lone headcrab. This time I had no issues wanting to kill a living creature; in fact I wanted to kill it. As I carefully took aim, I fired a single shot sending the headscarf lifeless body to fly a few feet across the floor with a squirt of yellow blood. I was not used to using such a powerful weapon, and upon shooting my body jerked back causing my arm to feel like it had been dislocated. Surprisingly it felt good, it made me want to kill more.

There was a brief moment of silence before Kleiner told me that there was nothing that could be done to save the scientists. The best we could do for the poor souls would be to put them to rest. Not even five seconds had passed before I aimed the shotgun at each scientist's head and fired. At this point I think something like a door opened within myself, a door that was better off being closed always. New emotions began to rush through me as older ones seemed to vanish. All that was left was anger, hate, and the need to survive.

Kleiner must have noticed that something in my expression had changed for he took the weapon out of my hands and gave me a few quick comforting words. I'm not sure what they were, but it was enough to temporarily close that door. Sometimes even today that door reopens when I'm fighting against rouge Xen forces and zombies. It can be handy to have when you're trying to survive but it's best to shut it immediately after a battle. Who knows how screwed up I might get if it were to remain open…

But, as close as I am to finishing about Black Mesa I'm too tired to want to write anymore. Besides tomorrow is a big day and I'll need sleep to be able to think clearly. Good night.

– Val


	12. Entry 12 the Cat and the Teleporter

**Author's Note: **Alright first off, I'm sorry it's been awhile since I published any new chapter. I've been so busy in life with getting a new job and all that I haven't had time to write or publish anything so please forgive meeeeeeee. Anyway onto the subject of this chapter. Many people have their own version of what happened with 'the cat'. For those of you who know what I'm talking about then you understand what I'm talking about. For those who don't, I'm sure you'll still enjoy this Entry. Also, my beta reader has been busy herself so she didn't have the time to read over this Entry. If you see anything feel free to tell me! Thank you and enjoy Entry 12, the Cat and the Teleporter.

**Entry 12, the Cat and the Teleporter**

Well, today started off relatively boring, got exciting, and ended in dismal (kind of anyway). I awoke bright and early this morning eager to conduct the experiments Kleiner and I had planned out for the teleportation chamber. After completing all the basic mechanical checkups we gathered the 'test subjects', otherwise known as a crate, a book (Moby Dick), a tin can, and a glass of water. Dr. Vance in Black Mesa East was to be the recipient of our materials, and we were to be his as he sent the same materials through to test his teleporter at different times.

The first test passed with flying colors. Apparently wooden materials, like crates, are practically nonexistent when being teleported. The second test was almost a pass, but both the books on both sides came across with the pages on the outside. We still haven't figured out why that happened yet. You would think that because a book's paper is made from a tree's wood that it would have came through fine, but oh well we will ponder it later. The third test was a complete failure at least for our side. Dr. Eli's tin can came to us in a perfect shape if not even straighter then it had been before. Our can however arrived at Black Mesa East completely melted and deformed. We figure it must have had something to do with some defaulted wires or with a bad energy input/output. A quick but thorough search led us to discover that indeed some of the wires leading to the main power supply had been frayed. After replacing the wires we re-tested with a second tin can only to reveal that new wires did nothing new; once again another problem that will be pondered upon later.

The fourth test was the most interesting. Both sides after teleporting the glass of water had come back with different results. For our glass of water, it arrived at Eli's in a perfect state with a perfect temperature. For his glass of water, it arrived at the lab with a temperature of over 120 C°! Also half the volume of the water had evaporated, which was not surprising because of the degree of heat that the glass had come back with. We decided to test each glass again, making absolutely sure that both glasses had matching variables. This results the second time around were complete opposites. Our glass had a very high temperature while Eli's arrived in a perfect shape. After much debate we decided it was to be a fail for one major reason. Human bodies possess a great amount of water. If a person was to be teleported to a certain area, they would probably end up exploding before they even got there. Since both glasses came back both times with different states, it was safe to assume that the teleporter was in no condition to be tested with live subjects. Well maybe headcrabs, but Kleiner was more than against that.

The time spent after that was more experiments involving the same objects with some minor to major tweaks on the chamber. It got boring, and it got boring fast. Luckily Barney dropped by for a visit with an interesting guest, a cat. I'm not sure how else to put this but, I absolutely adore cats and probably more than almost anything or anyone else as well. While that may seem sad or pathetic to say, it's completely true. Anyway, as soon as I saw the cat I think I forgot about Barney and rushed to stroke the tiny brown and black striped feline. I immediately fell in love and began to cuddle with him (yes it's a he, I checked) as Barney seemed to look disappointed that his presence had been almost completely overlooked for a cat.

Kleiner, who had stopped the tests temporarily for lunch, came back with a look of shock. Cats (and other animals) had not often been seen after the war, so Kleiner and I pretty much blurted out the same question at the same time. Where on Earth had Barney found this tiny kitty? Barney had no problem telling us of how a citizen had found the cat in an alleyway. She had desperately wanted to keep him, but knew that if her apartment complex was raided by the Combine they would surely kill her feline friend. Barney obviously not being an animal lover wasn't exactly sure what to do. His original thought was to release the cat on the far edges of City 17, but even he knew that was too cruel. Even though he hated the thought of yet another animal wandering around Kleiner's lab, he figured it would be the most humane to donate the little kitty to me as an early birthday present.

Without a further word I accepted the cat and began to think of a name for him. I was so excited and I felt like a young child who had just visited the pet shop. I had a cat before, her name was Natasha. She was a beautiful Calico with yellow eyes that seemed to glow, and with a personality that shined even brighter. I remember coming home from school and heading up to my room only to find her there waiting for me purring. She had the smallest yet most dignified meow I had ever heard from a cat, and she often liked to express it. About a month before I had graduated high school she came down with a bad virus. The doctors didn't even need to tell me that her weakened immune system wouldn't be able to fight it off. She lived a long and happy life though, that to which I'm glad for.

Seems I've wondered off yet again into my past; I've got to stop doing that. I eventually came up with a name for my cat though, Vladimir, Vlad for short. He's a curious little cat who likes to look everywhere with his emerald green eyes and to stick his pink nose where it doesn't belong. At one point he even ran into Markey and Lamarr's cage/bed. At first I thought for the worst like I had when Markey met Lamarr. I was yet again proved wrong as Markey and Vlad began to playfully tackle each other while Lamarr looked on calmly. To think that a couple of headcrabs and a cat had somehow formed that quickly into a sort of abnormal family made me feel a feeling I had not felt in awhile, joy. Kleiner also seemed to share the same feelings I did towards their meeting but he was quickly distracted as Eli re-appeared on the monitor screen.

Thus it was back to work as we began to test other materials in the chamber. Things were going fine, even better than the last tests. Barney had even decided to stick around and chat a bit, regardless of the playful animals at his feet. Then out of nowhere the sound of like a person being tortured filled the air. I frantically looked around for the source of the sound only to realize that the noise was coming from both Vladimir and Barney combined. Vlad was climbing up Barney's left leg yowling as though he was possessed; Barney was howling in pain as he was trying to detach Vlad's tiny sharp claws from his leg. I hurried over to attempt to help Barney but before I could, he kicked his leg at almost light speed sending Vlad flying into the teleport chamber. Kleiner who had barely taken any notice to the event began the teleport sequence causing the chamber to rise with a large wooden crate, and Vlad.

Vlad paid no attention as the sequence began, and in fact he was purring as though he had completely forgotten what he had just done to Barney. I shouted to Kleiner to stop the chamber but it was too late. Vlad had been teleported to Black Mesa East along with the wooden crate. I rushed over to the monitor expecting the worse but hoping for the best. Eli eventually appeared and told us that the crate had come across perfectly, however nothing was said about a cat. I asked desperately if there had been a cat, and Eli disappeared with a look of confusion from the screen to search. Seconds seem like minutes, and minutes seemed like hours, until finally Eli returned to the screen with a quizzical look. He held up Vlad and said he had found the cat tucked away inside the crate.

Vladimir meowed a small and tired meow, only to curl up and fall asleep in Eli's hand shortly after. For a long while we thought about what to do with Vlad. It had been a sheer miracle that he had survived being teleported, so it was probably best not to try it again. Eli assured me that Vlad would be taken care of before shutting off the screen to say goodnight. I really do think it turned out best this way. Now we know that a living creature can survive being teleported in our home made teleporter (even if it was just luck). However, I think it would be best if we didn't test the chamber again with a living subject until we are completely sure that it's safe. I know I'll miss Vlad, but I'll see him again if I get transferred. For now though I have to get some kind of sleep, so good night.

– Val

P.S. By the way Barney stormed out again after the incident between him and Vladimir. He told me before he left that he swears he will forever have nightmares about Vlad's yowl. He is so dramatic sometimes, but that's Barney for ya.

**Author's Final Note: **For those of you who were expecting me to kill the cat...I say shame on you! Not really. Sorry though guys, I just couldn't bring myself to kill or hurt the cat since I LOVE cats. :P Hope you still enjoyed it. To answer your question AnimeOtaku137, yes I have played the first Half-Life (along with its expansion packs). I have this bad habit of memorizing the layout of an area the first time I play any game, so that's why it seems so in depth. Hope that answered your question!


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